Knutsford Easter Experience thrills school kids

Schoolchildren visiting Knutsford Methodist Church have walked alongside Jesus on a journey from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection as part of an Easter Experience where more than 100 children from three local schools hear the Easter story each year.

Made up of six interactive stations, the experience begins at Palm Sunday with Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem where he captured the hopes and dreams of the crowd longing for a better world. Here, the children write their own hopes and dreams on stones (remembering Jesus's rebuke to the naysayers ‘that even the stones would cry out!’). They then place their stones at the foot of the cross. The Revd Alan Bradley, minister at Knutsford, commented, “This is one of the highlights of my Easter, reading and praying through these stones - it is so moving to read the children’s hopes and dreams. Among the dreams of playing for Manchester United are deeply felt prayers for peace in the world, care for the earth and healing for family and friends.”

Other stations include sitting with the disciples at the Lord’s supper and tasting delicious bread, they also hear how Jesus washed his disciples' feet, a mark of his servant heart.

The children also visit the Garden of Gethsemane and reflect on Jesus being alone while molding clay to help them focus. The fifth station marks Jesus death on the cross, reflecting on how Jesus gave his life for the world - here the children name their own prayers for the world. Finally, together with the new Children and School’s Worker, Hannah Hill, they share the story of Easter Sunday, and the joy that Jesus did not remain dead but is risen.

This year was Hannah Hill’s first time leading the Easter Experience. "The joys are seeing how engaged the children are and the answers they give to the questions. They are so grateful for what we do.

“It is a joy to be able to provide this opportunity to visit the church and learn about the life of Jesus. For some children, this will be the only time that they will go to church. Here they can access the story of Easter in a quick, fun and engaging way that encourages the children to expand their conversations back at school and support them in the religious studies part of the curriculum. The children are really engaged and come up with some brilliant answers and are willing to share their stories and ideas."

It takes lots of volunteers to make the event happen. They all love coming to help and have really enjoyed working with the children this year. Other church members gather materials and make props.

Peter Freeman was the previous Children and Families Worker who developed the Easter Experience for Knutsford. “I was head teacher at a church school and had come across the ‘Experiences’ and thought it was a way of engaging with the local schools. My hope was that we could provide the schools with a way of embedding the children’s learning about the Easter Story but also to ensure that the children know that there is a church where they are always welcome.”

“The joy of doing the Easter Experience is the opportunity of welcoming the children into the church and enabling them to express their concerns about the world and life. I believe it helps them to learn how to be less anxious because they can express themselves in a variety of ways."

The teachers gave some great feedback on the event and its impact on the children - “To see how happy the children are having been to the church and they are telling me how much they have enjoyed themselves.”

“It is a wonderful feeling to know that we have provided something that they really enjoy and value”, commented Revd Alan.